Crown Molding made easy. We have taken all of the guess work out of cutting crown
molding. Chapter 4 in our new
2nd edition book deals with installing crown molding on a horizontal ceiling.

In today's modern construction, corners are often built at unusual angles. For example, if you measure a corner angle of 146° and were using crown molding with a spring angle of 38°, you would just simply look up the miter and blade tilt
in Chapter 4 or the crown molding table, page 124 thru 141. You would set your compound miter saw for a miter of 10.7° and a blade tilt of 13.3° and cut a perfect compound miter joint.

What you will find in other books are instructions that say "for those corners that are not 90° just adjust your saw until you get the corners to fit". Here is where everyone loses it. You have created a huge pile of firewood from your expensive crown molding and now have an ulcer and give up.

The information below is only a small part of what you can expect to get from our new
2nd edition book.

Let's start by explaining just the basic compound miter cuts to install crown molding for a horizontal ceiling.

Standard Corner Turns

This is the most common type of crown moulding cut. The crown runs along the wall and ceiling and will make a horizontal turn of some angle in a corner and continue on along the ceiling. The ceiling is horizontal but the corners are almost never exactly 90°.

Standard Corner Turns consist of two types,
Inside Corners & Outside Corners.(These are cut somewhat different, as we will demonstrate.)

Inside Corners - Corners that measure between 0° to 180°. Outside Corners - Corners that measure between 180° to 360°.

The blade tilt position did not change but the miter table was rotated counterclockwise to the correct miter setting opposite the previous setting for the left-side piece.

Also now the top of the crown molding (instead of the bottom) is next to the compound miter saw fence, lying face up and flat on the table.

You will not be able to see the saw cut and the pointed end will always be the top of the crown moulding. (This is the right-side piece for the outside corner.)

All outside corner cuts will look similar to these.

When looking at the crown molding like it will be installed, the pointed ends will always be the top of the crown moulding (next to the ceiling) and you will not be able to see the saw cut surface.

The crown molding is ready to install.

Compare the differences between crown moulding cuts. This is the correct cut for an inside corner. (Notice the saw cut surface shows and the pointed ends are at the bottom of the crown molding).

How to measure the length of the Crown Molding.

Inside Corner to Inside Corner: Measure the distance from the inside corner to the other inside corner and cut the crown moulding as shown

Inside Corner to Outside Corner: Measure
the distance from the inside corner to the outside corner and cut the crown molding as shown. Note: On outside corner marking of the
crown, use the back side of the crown to place the length mark and cut to this. This is necessary because of the blade tilt angle.
The backside of the crown moulding (outside corner) must meet the corner of the wall.

Outside Corner to Outside Corner: Measure the distance from the outside corner to the outside corner and cut the crown molding as shown.(See Note on marking for outside corners above.)